UPDATE: 6 years out and I had to go to the ER!

Yep.

Me. 

Over the past few years I've had bouts of abdominal pain, but was always able to manage it by drinking a little hot beef consomme or maybe changing clothes if my waistband was a little too snug.  This time was different.

On Wednesday morning nothing I did would make the pain stop.  My stomach was hurting so bad that I could even feel it in my back.  I was doubled over and then curled up in the fetal position crying like a wimpy little ****** and I didn't care who saw me.

They were moving slow in the ER.  It seemed like it took forever to see the doctor.  He ordered a CT with contrast.  By the time I got to the imaging department though, whatever had happened initially had started going back to where it was before and the pain started easing.

The ER doc called in a WLS surgeon for consult and they kept me overnight.  The CT showed some swelling in the mesentery and my lactic acid levels were more than double normal values.  The surgeon said that this is a marker of tissue being deprived of oxygen.  He felt like it was either something herniated that slipped back into place or else my gut twisted temporarily.  I have a followup appointment scheduled in two weeks.  I just came back to the office today.

Happy Thought:  It resolved itself and I didn't have to have emergency surgery.

Scary Thought:  If it hadn't resolved itself, because of the delay in treatment in the ER, I could have lost a piece of intestine or DIED.

Lessons Learned: 
-No matter how far out you are post op, S#IT can happen.
-Don't delay going to ER if there is serious pain in the gut. 
-Call the surgeon to meet you there before you go.
-Tell the ER doc that as a post op RNY, you are at risk for bowel obstruction.
-INSIST that they treat it as a true time-dependent emergency.

I thank God for sparing my life and allowing me to share my story with you all. 

So glad you are ok.  Any abdominal surgery increases our risks of obstruction for life.  We must listen to our bodies. 

I'll just add that if you are not near the hospital where your surgeon practices, go to the best hospital you can get to quickly.  ER in places that service mostly affluent patients are less crowded because fewer people use them as their main health care provider.  The necessary game in ER is triage.  Someone worse off comes in and the deck is reshuffled. 

If you have life threatening trauma, you want the er that gets the casualties of street wars (over dramatic but you get it).  If you are sick and in pain you want that low volume er waiting room where you will be seen quickly.   Insurance covers them both so why sit for six hours as trauma cases come through when another hospital will examine you within the hour

You know what?  I was at the hospital when it happened - a bariatric center of excellence.

The ER staff was still clueless.

I am glad your ok I know how scarey that is because I had the same thing happen to me just a few months ago.   I had horrible bent over pain and when I was on my way to get a CT scan the pain started to go away.   They don't really know what it was but I'm ok and feeling pretty good every since.

Take care of yourself because your right bad things can happen to us WLS patients at any given time. 

Thanks, Lee.

Thanks for sharing. Everyone needs to hear you loud and clear regarding abdominal pain & the lessons learned!  I'm so glad everything worked out and you did not have to have any invasive medical procedures.

I had a hernia that strangulated my bowel and I had to have emergency surgery I ignored and explained away the pain before going to see my surgeon if I had waited much longer I might not be here because my bowel wa*****tured.  Like most people it's easy for us to think that the further out we are there will be no problems.  All abdominal surgeries can cause problems of some sort in the future.  When in doubt its always best to get examined.

I ignored and explained away the pain


So did I, but never again!

Glad u were spared.  Thanx for sharing ur experience.
Z

Thank you.  I hope telling my story will help someone else.

Praise God that you are okay Sue !!!